Place 22 - Alexei Tsatevich

Alexei Tsatevich

Russia

05.07.1989

 

Rider type: Sprinter

Biggest success: 1. 2 Giorni Marchigiana - GP Industria e Commercio Castelfidardo 2008

Team 2011: Itera - Katusha

Stagiaire: -

Team 2012: not yet known

Best Mock List ranking: -

Web: www.facebook.com/home.php

 

Every year the Katusha farmteam Itera brings out a handful of strong talents. After Galimzyanov, Kritskiy, Porsev and Mironev, this year it is Nikita Novikov and Alexei Tsatevich, both born in 1989. While Novikov climbs signficantly better, Tsatevich, who only this year was able to attract attention, could develop into a great sprinter.

 

The now 22-year-old Russian, born in Vernhaya Pyshma, will win many German fans with the announcement that his cycling idol is Jan Ullrich. And a word to the ladies: Tsatevich is still single, although his Facebook page says he is in an open relationship....

 

The Russian's first major result, which he also calls his biggest success, was his victory in the Due Giorni Marchigiana (1.2) in 2008, which he won out of a group of seven riders including Paterksi and Reneve. Four months earlier he was eighth in a mass sprint at the Giro delle Regioni (2.NC), which Dutch rider van Winden won ahead of the now-successful pros Modolo and Swift.

 

In 2009 and 2010, riding in Italy for the junior team Agideli, he had equally few results. At the 2009 Russian championships he was able to stay with the first large field, and took ninth place, in best company of such riders as Gusev, Vorganov, Brutt and Efimkin. Further good results included a fourth place at the Trofeo Citta di San Vendemiano (1.2U) and ninth at the GP della Liberazione (1.2U), which Modolo won ahead of Matthews, Kwiatkowski and Appollonio.

 

Another indication of Tsatevich's sprinting ability ... which he proved a year later in the same race with a tenth place finish. At the Giro della Valle d'Aosta Mont Blanc (2.2), he got into the top ten twice. He came to the attention of the international public no later than the Tour de l'Avenir (2.NC), where he sprinted to fourth and ninth (fifth in the field's sprint) behind Degenkolb and Matthews, but ahead of Phinney and Kump.

 

These results may have been enough fto bring about his change to the Continental Team Itera-Katusha the beginning of 2011, for which he could bring in his first pro win, so far three. He started strongly, with a third place at the Istrian Spring Trophy (2.2), followed by his first win at the GP Costa Azul (2.2) in Portugal (against an admittedly not-too-great field), after finishing second the day before.

 

Only a week later he had his second win, in the French one-day GP de la Ville de Nogent-sur-Oise (1.2) in the sprint against Barry Markus. At the La Cote Picarde (1.NC), only Arnaud Demare, also on the 2011 Mock List, could stop Tsatevich's hat trick. In the meantime he had established himself as one of the strongest young sprinters and proved it again with a seventh place at the ZLM Tour (1.NC). After two further top ten placings at the Toscana – Coppa delle Nazioni (2.NC), Tsatevich reutrned to his homeland, where he was second in the one-day race GP of Moscow (1.2) and fourth in the sprint of a stage of the Five Rings of Moscow.

 

Back in the international field, the Russian had a strong seventh place at the Slovenian GP Kranj (1.1). He followed it up with further podium places (third at the Vuelta a Communidad de Madrid (2.2U) behind soloist Jordi Simon as well as second in the Hungarian Central European Tour – Budapest GP (1.2)), naturally in mass sprints. His most recent win this season was at the Tour Alsace (2.2), in which he won the fourth stage against, amongst others, Schäfer, Bouhanni and Demare, after finishing third behind the latter on the previous stage.

 

So far Tsatevich still doesn't have a pro contract. He will have to keep on dreaming of his great wish to stand on the podium one day at Paris-Roubaix.

 

Nominated by virtualprofit, written by virtualprofit, translated by Tick